There is always a time for remembering the veteran, especially on Memorial Day.

Leon Shook, of Casscoe, remembers vividly of World War II and the journey he experienced while defending his country.

"I was injured over there, hospitalized over there and came home," Shook said. "It took a while to come back home."

It was a somewhat long journey for Shook who enlisted in February of 1944 at Camp Robinson in Little Rock and was shipped to Fort Meade, Md., for six weeks for tank destroyer training.

"After the field artillery training in Virginia and the infantry training in Colorado Springs, Colo., I was shipped out September of 1944 to Glasgow, Scotland.”

Shook explained that he was on a troop train through England and landed on a boat to Le Havre, France, and was transported to Harlingen, Netherlands, in October of 1944 to be assigned to the 814 Tank Destroyer Division.

"Then we were assigned to a campaign called the Battle of the Bulge," Shook said. "This campaign was from Dec. 16, 1945 to Jan. 25, 1945."

The Battle of the Bulge was a major German Offensive campaign and the surprise attack caught the Allied forces completely off guard.

"During this time, right before Christmas, I was wounded," Shook said. "I was burned very bad."

Shook said he was inside the tank when it was bombed, and couldn't get out because his hatch was blocked. When he did, he fell on the snow wounded and had to be picked up by fellow soldiers.

"I was wounded pretty bad," Shook said. "I was blind for three months and they didn't think I was going to see again."

Shook sustained injuries from head to toe. He was placed in a cast on his leg and shoulder and suffered burns on his face and body. He spent his recovery time in eight different hospitals.

Shook returned to the United States on March 6, 1945, where he spent some time at Brooks Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, then recuperated as a cook at the Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs, before they turned it over to a private business.

"I was the last cook for the Army at the Arlington Hotel," Shook said. "After I was well, I came back home near Almyra, my home."

Shook, who spent his childhood on a farm on Highway 33, between Almyra and Casscoe, already had two brothers, C.W. and Nelson, in World War II when he enlisted in 1944.

Shook got over his wounds and in 1947 became the husband of Ruby Landreth, had two children, Becky and Dale and farmed the remainder of his life. He now has grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The Shooks live in Casscoe and enjoy spending time with their family and friends.